• ECP notice on inter-party elections “serious mistake,” says PTI.
• ECP has no justification for depriving PTI of symbol: Senator Zafar.
• 41 days passed but detailed decision not issued yet: PTI’s counsel.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue its verbal order regarding issuance of election symbol and reminded the electoral body of its constitutional duty to hold free and fair elections in the country, The News reported on Thursday.

Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, the party’s counsel, on Wednesday filed an application with the Election Commission requesting for issuance of a detailed written order in the interest of justice and fairness.

The party has urged the Election Commission to issue a detailed decision without delay in light of its announcement concerning issuance of election symbols.

According to Senator Zafar, the Election Commission had issued a notice to the PTI for refusing to issue the symbol of “bat” on the basis of intra-party elections.

He insisted the commission’s notice on the basis of inter-party elections was a serious mistake, as the PTI had held intra-party elections on June 9, 2022 as per its constitution.

He maintained that the ECP had no justification of depriving the PTI of its symbol after holding the intra-party elections, as the electoral body had never objected to the intra-party elections but identified some defects in the submitted document, which had been removed.

The Election Commission in its August 30, 2023 decision, he pointed out, accepted the PTI’s decision to hold the intra-party elections and announced the decision to issue the election symbol of “bat” and after the August 30 decision of the Election Commission, the matter had become final and complete.

He recalled that at the time of the verbal announcement of the August 30 decision, the Election Commission announced to issue a detailed decision in this regard and this was widely highlighted in print, electronic and social media.

However, he noted, 41 days had passed since the August 30 decision, but a detailed decision had not yet been provided.

“PTI is the largest political party in the country, which is contesting the upcoming elections. Not issuing a detailed decision even after 41 days is a clear violation of fundamental rights, including articles 4, 9, 10A, 15, 16, 17 and 26 of the Constitution,” he said.

Ali Zafar insisted that according to the Constitution, the Election Commission was bound to hold free, fair, impartial and transparent elections, while avoiding detailed decisions was a deviation from this constitutional mandate.